After looking at the apartment, Zhang Xianyu went back to the hotel first.
When he went upstairs, he noticed that the front desk had changed to a new person.
He couldn’t help but think of the little Manager Li whom he had struck and left charred.
After thinking it over, he didn’t go up immediately.
Instead, he dawdled over to the new front desk and asked,
“What about the previous receptionist? She doesn’t work here anymore?”
“She’s on leave.”
The new receptionist was a very enthusiastic young woman.
Especially seeing that Zhang Xianyu was handsome, she couldn’t help but lean in and gossip,
“It seems she ran into something unclean and fell ill. Our boss’s son was close to her, and he got dragged into it too. He’s still lying in the hospital.”
This new receptionist seemed to think Zhang Xianyu was the former receptionist’s admirer and poured out all the gossip she knew, repeatedly hinting at some unclear relationship between the receptionist and the boss’s son.
But Zhang Xianyu didn’t pick up on any of that.
He just roughly distilled the main point: the receptionist and young Manager Li were both in the hospital, Manager Li’s situation was more serious and still under observation, while the receptionist had already gone home to recuperate.
Seeing that the hotel staff were still in the mood to gossip, Manager Li was probably out of danger.
Zhang Xianyu finally put his mind at ease, didn’t continue the topic, and went upstairs to rest.
The next day, Zhang Xianyu worked the night shift, from 4 pm to midnight.
Today also happened to be when his hotel stay expired.
He was still thinking about the apartment he saw last night, so he simply went to the neighborhood early in the morning.
The neighborhood was on Changning Road, right between a convenience store and Jiangcheng University.
Though a bit old, it was very convenient for transportation.
Worried someone else might snap it up first, Zhang Xianyu didn’t even bother to eat breakfast.
He called the landlord right away.
The landlord probably hadn’t expected someone so bold to come rent so soon.
He was momentarily stunned when he got Zhang Xianyu’s call.
Hearing he wanted to see the apartment, he quickly agreed.
Zhang Xianyu waited at the entrance of Building Three for over twenty minutes before seeing a man in his fifties walk toward him.
He didn’t seem to be a local, as his accent was quite different from Jiangcheng’s.
When speaking to Zhang Xianyu, he looked a bit timid.
“You’re here to rent the apartment?”
“Yeah, I’ll take a look first. If there’s no problem, I’ll rent it right away.”
When the landlord heard “no problem,” his body noticeably stiffened, then he forced a smile.
“Don’t worry, all the furniture inside is new and freshly cleaned—very clean.”
But he never mentioned the murder that had just taken place in the apartment.
They went up to the second floor.
The landlord trembled as he pulled out the key, unlocked the door, pushed it open, but stayed at the doorway.
“There, go take a look. It’s very clean.”
Maybe he didn’t even realize it himself, but he kept emphasizing how clean it was.
Zhang Xianyu glanced at him but didn’t expose the lie, and went inside alone to check the apartment.
If not for the murder, this place was actually great.
Second floor, facing the sun, two bedrooms and a living room, all with new furniture, cleaned spotlessly.
Normally, such an apartment would rent for around 2,500.
If not for the incident and the haunting rumors, it probably wouldn’t even be available for him.
“The water, electricity, and gas still have credit left. You can keep using them—I won’t charge you for that,” the landlord said from the doorway.
Seeing Zhang Xianyu still wandering inside, he thought he was hesitating and eagerly added,
“This apartment is already very cheap. You won’t find another like this.”
Zhang Xianyu walked around the apartment but didn’t sense any ghostly presence.
Either the haunting was a rumor, or it was just too early in the day for ghosts to appear.
Either way, he still planned to rent it.
He closed the door and went downstairs with the landlord to discuss the contract.
The landlord wasn’t too happy to hear he only wanted it for a month, but then thought about how it had been empty for half a month with no one asking.
Better rented than vacant, so he finally agreed to a one-month contract.
One month’s rent plus one month’s deposit.
After signing the contract and paying, the landlord handed over the keys and hurried off—clearly wanting to avoid this apartment.
Who knew what he had experienced here?
With the keys in hand, Zhang Xianyu went to the community supermarket to buy daily necessities.
These would still be useful once the semester started, so it wasn’t a waste.
When he went upstairs carrying big and small bags, he ran into a neighbor.
Seeing his arms full, the neighbor enthusiastically helped carry some things and chatted,
“Just moved in? I live on the third floor. Which unit are you renting?”
“I’m in 204.”
As they spoke, they reached the second floor.
Zhang Xianyu took the things back from him.
“Thanks. Hope we can hang out more in the future.”
“204?”
The neighbor repeated uncertainly.
Zhang Xianyu nodded and pointed to the nearby door.
“Yeah, that one.”
The neighbor stared at him like he’d seen a ghost.
The warmth on his face instantly turned into fear, and without even replying, he hurried upstairs.
Zhang Xianyu frowned.
Was this apartment really that terrifying?
Just as he was wondering, the neighbor who’d rushed upstairs came back down, looking conflicted.
“That apartment…I really think you’d be better off not staying there. Inside—” “…it’s not peaceful…”
He finished saying this and quickly ran upstairs again, as if he was unwilling to stay even a moment longer.
Zhang Xianyu clicked his tongue in mild annoyance and helplessly went back to start cleaning.
The apartment was well-furnished.
Zhang Xianyu tidied up the master bedroom, then went downstairs to have lunch.
Since there was still nearly an hour before his shift, and he had nothing better to do, he decided to leisurely walk to the convenience store.
“President Lin, all the information is here.”
The assistant bowed slightly and placed the files he had found on the rosewood desk.
A pair of long, powerful hands picked up the thin stack of papers, flipped through them carefully, then set them down again, revealing a calm face as deep and still as an ancient well.
“That’s all?”
“Yes. His life is very simple, he hardly has any social circle.”
Lin Wushui touched his chin thoughtfully for a moment and said,
“Then how does one get close to someone like that?”
The assistant was stumped by the question.
After thinking for a bit, he hesitantly suggested,
“Maybe…send a beautiful woman to approach him?”
Then, noticing Lin Wushui’s icy expression, he awkwardly laughed and added,
“I’ve just seen it done like that on TV dramas…after all, I’m a proper assistant—I wouldn’t really do that sort of thing.”
Lin Wushui’s gaze flickered slightly.
He changed to propping his chin on one hand, fell into a long silence, then tapped his fingers on the rosewood desk.
“I know what to do. You can go now.”
The assistant left with a confused look: You know?
Well, good for you then…
After sending the assistant away, Lin Wushui stayed in the office for more than an hour before finally driving off.
If someone had been able to see President Lin’s computer search history at that moment, they would have been utterly speechless at the full screen of queries like: “How to cross-dress as a woman without being recognized,”
“What kind of women are easiest to approach men,” and other such topics.
Zhang Xianyu’s night shift at the convenience store lasted until midnight.
He bounced on the spot a couple of times to relieve his aching legs, then ate some instant noodles in the store as dinner.
It was nearly 1 AM by the time he finally headed home.
At this hour, there were no more buses.
He could only take a taxi—but Zhang Xianyu was broke.
A taxi was out of the question, so he had no choice but to walk slowly home.
Although Jiangcheng could barely be considered a first-tier city, its infrastructure hadn’t really caught up.
The whole city was under construction, surrounded by fences.
Worse still, the streetlights at night looked exhausted, scattered so far apart that they only barely lit up tiny patches of ground.
In places beyond the reach of streetlights, there was nothing but darkness that left plenty to the imagination.
Jiangcheng’s nightlife was dull too; after midnight, even the flashing neon lights were pitifully few.
To get from the convenience store to the Zijing Garden complex where he rented, Zhang Xianyu had to pass through a somewhat remote side street.
Anyone else would have avoided that dark, secluded alley at this hour, even if it meant taking a detour.
But Zhang Xianyu was highly skilled and completely unfazed—he strolled right in as if taking a walk.
Sure enough, trouble found him.
About four or five meters ahead, two burly men—one tall, one short—were surrounding a tall… um…probably a woman, seemingly in the middle of a mugging.
The alley was very dark and they were some distance away.
Zhang Xianyu could only tell it was a woman by the long, black hair.
The two thugs hadn’t noticed the newcomer yet, still joking with each other.
The tall one said,
“Look at this chick’s legs, damn they’re something…”
The short one agreed,
“Legs like that, I could play with ‘em for a year—so fuckin’ long.”
The woman surrounded by them kept her head down, shoulders trembling slightly, looking like she’d already resigned herself to her fate.
“Run! The police are coming!”
Zhang Xianyu didn’t rush over. Instead, he deliberately shouted to stir up fear.
If he could scare the thugs off, he wouldn’t have to fight.
Sure enough, the two of them jumped in fright and instinctively bolted.
But after a few steps, the shorter one suddenly realized something was off.
He turned back, cursing,
“Who the fuck said that?”
He scanned the area and quickly spotted Zhang Xianyu standing in the shadows.
He waved for the tall one to keep an eye on the woman, then clenched his fists and swaggered toward Zhang Xianyu, sneering,
“Oh, trying to play the hero, huh?”
Looks like he still had to fight.
Zhang Xianyu sighed helplessly.
After standing for eight hours, his legs were still sore.
The man was heavily built, with tiger tattoos on his arms—clearly some street thug. Zhang
Xianyu tried reasoning,
“You can’t beat me. If you leave now, it’s not too late.”
“Fuck you!”
The man’s face darkened instantly.
He swung a right hook.
Zhang Xianyu didn’t dodge.
He caught the punch solidly.
“Holy shit!” the thug exclaimed, but before he could react, Zhang Xianyu flipped him over his shoulder and slammed him to the ground.
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